The end was nigh

I am really rather happy that at 6pm on 21 May I did not find myself shuffling off this mortal coil. I really wasn't ready to meet my maker as I had far too many things outstanding and am only part way down my bucket list. Not only that but I'd done a shop at Lidil and so I'd hate for all that food to go to waste. I was either not worthy to be taken up or the prediction by Harold Camping was not so much a prediction but a wildly misinformed guess. I think I probably know which answer is best without having to call in Harry Hill to organise a big fight to decide.

So what is all this with Harold Camping anyway? Camping, is an 89 year old ex civil engineer who bought a Radio Station and uses it to 'teach' his own interpretation of the Christian Bible. He has built up a multi million dollar fortune through donations from those that subscribe to his ideas, even though his predictions have so far all been totally wrong.

So where do these predictions come from? He's uses mathmatical calculations based on certain cycles within the Bible. I always thought that there were no margins for error in maths, you either have the right answer or the wrong answer. It seems to me that Harold Camping is rubbish at maths!

I've obviously missed a trick here as it seems that there is big money to be made by making wild predictions based on out of date text in the bible that has been translated from the original so as to lose its true meaning or intent.

Its amazing what comes up when you search Google for the next budding entrepreneurial Nostradamus. The internet is awash with them. I reckon if you lay them all horizontal in one big pile, the weight would tip the globe off her axis!

The current hot topic of course, after Harold Camping's rubbishy offering (the date of which he says is now 21st October), is the end of days December 21st 2012. Potentially a great day for the world to end as it means I won't have to spend a fortune on christmas shopping. December 21st also happens to co-incide with the Winter Solstice which happens to be when the current cycle of the Mayan calender ends and the new cycle starts, when the days start to get longer and we move towards a new year with new possibilities. 


Somehow I don't think that predicting the world will continue beyond December 21st 2012 will make me any money whatsoever but I'm happy to give it a go! 

Trek Reflections

Have you ever been to the Himalaya? If not let me try to give you a sense of how it made me feel.


Lord Buddha said, 


A place to stay untouched by death
Does not exist.
It does not exist in space, it does not exist in the ocean,
Nor if you stay in the middle of a mountain.

And indeed, sitting at the top of a high pass looking across at the wonder, beauty and magnitude that surrounds me, I cannot help but acknowledge my own mortality. It is a time to rest and contemplate reality, to stop and breathe in the clear unadulterated air as if I am the first person ever to draw breath there. Mountains do that to me, but the affect seems more intense in the Himalaya. A few years back when I first glimpsed these majestic mountains reaching up to the heavens in Nepal, I had a similar experience. I can only liken it to one of a spiritual nature. That moment when you find yourself acknowledging how tiny you are and how huge the universe is. 

All this happens in a fleeting moment really as I am with 12 other trekkers and our guides, however there is space to just to be alone with my thoughts. It's almost like me and the mountains, a secret yet intese relationship, captured moments alone together when we can just embrace each others essence. 

There are few people I have met, who have not experienced some from of inexplicable wonderment when faced with snow capped mountains that stretch out before you for miles to the distant horizon. Maybe it is the primal sense of who we are in terms of the reality of everything around us, that unfathomable yet real feeling that leaves us gasping for breath and wondering how to make sense of everything. 

To reach this pass in the Himachal Pradesh region of the Himalaya requires a steep climb, through beautiful and rugged terrain that is both challenging and invigorating. After several hours of an uphill trek and just before I reach the top of the pass I find an increasing sense of anticipation building, an adrenalin rush as I look forward to the view that is waiting and a chance to sit and wonder. Each time I get to the highest point of the trek I feel like I want to scream, ' whooooo hooo' although I never actually do so. Its almost like I want the mountains to know I'm there, 'hey take notice of me, me, I'm here'. But in truth it's not all about me, it about the mountains. They are screaming out to me that they have their own story to tell, they have seen it all through generations and they remain unchanged and ever strong. A testimony to the spirit of life and death that flows through each of us, they stand watching waiting for that instance when the mountain and I become part of each other and for a moment I am the mountain. It is in that very moment that I have found life. 


With thanks to Simon at Charity Challenge and Katy at the White Ribbon Alliance 

To Pee or not to Pee that is the question.

Camping in a valley by a river with snow capped mountains as the backdrop I wake in the night with a need to nip to the loo. It was a bit chilly and I did spend a fair while contemplating whether or not I'd be able to wait until morning. In the end nature made the decision for me and I had to go. The loos, two of them, were a little away from the living space thankfully. They were natural compost loos consisting of  holes in the ground and a box over the top with a loo seat on. There is a pile of toilet ash of lime and soil mix which is sprinkled over the top of ones 'doings', to both mask the smell (of roses in my case) and protect your fellow trekkers from having to view what your body does to the previous nights camp dinner. 
As it was pretty dark I was thankful for a handy head torch given to me by twitter friends @RunSqueezyRun and @Nibus, who were on the trek with me. 
So head torch on I made my way to the loo.  I switched it off whilst actually on the loo as I didn't want to attract any insects and also wasn't sure if anyone else who might wake up would be able to see a silhouette of me sitting on the loo! 
Do you remember the coffee advert on TV where the woman fooled her dinner guests into thinking that the instant coffee was actually freshly ground by making coffee percolator sounds? Well I kinda did the same with the compost loo and as I sprinkled the toilet ash over my 'doings' I made a flushing sound. Silly I know but it just felt right at the time! 
Making my way back to the tent and slightly chuckling to myself about how daft I am, I fell over a rock. I landed on my back with my head torch shinning into the night sky. I lay there for several minutes and laughed out loud. Not one bugger heard me or came to my rescue. Actually it was just as well as I can imagine I looked ridiculous as I had a pair of white ribbed old man long johns on, flip flops and a fleece top. It was just one of those daft moments when you just lie there laughing for no reason apart from your own insanity. 


I sneaked back to my tent and snuggled down into my sleeping back and listened to the night noises. Snoring, snuffling and other animal noises coming from my fellow trekkers and some unknown creature in the surrounding countryside. 


I love camping!